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New study reveals link between marriage age and divorce

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Jul 24, 2015

New study reveals link between marriage age and divorce

Posted By
Louis P. Winner

Traditional beliefs held by many Kentuckians, alongside a multitude of
previous studies, seemed to indicate that the later in life a couple waited
to marry, the less likely their marriage would end in divorce. After all,
when one isn't blinded by nascent teenage love, and as one matures
emotionally and becomes more settled financially, the more likely one
would be able to stick to the life-long commitment of marriage. However,
one new study indicates that, to a certain extent, this may not be the case.

A recent study has revealed that, while the risk of divorce for teenage
marriages is still greater than that of older couples, those who marry
after their early thirties face a divorce rate that is higher than couples
who got married when they were in their late twenties. Although the divorce
rate for a couple that ties the knot at age 25 is half that of a couple
who gets married when they are 20, this may not be the case after age 32.

The study, which took data from the National Survey of Family Growth for
the years starting in 2006 and ending in 2010, revealed that before a
person is 32-years-old, the longer the person waits to marry results in
an 11 percent reduction of the odds of divorce for each year the individual
waits to marry up to age 32. However, after age 32, the chances that a
couple's marriage will end in divorce goes up 5 percent annually.
It is not yet known why it seems that those who marry after age 32 may
be more apt to divorce.

While this study certainly is interesting, particularly to high-profile
coupleswho may have waited until they were well-set in their careers before
marrying, it is important not to make any broad generalizations. The reasons
behind any couple's divorce are deeply personal and complex. While
age may play a factor in a couple's decision to divorce, it is usually
only one of many factors that led to the end of the marriage.